Review Article: Two Contrasting Views On The Historical Authenticity Of The Adam Character In The Genesis Creation Narratives -- By: Daniel T. Lioy

Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 14:1 (Sep 2012)
Article: Review Article: Two Contrasting Views On The Historical Authenticity Of The Adam Character In The Genesis Creation Narratives
Author: Daniel T. Lioy


Review Article: Two Contrasting Views On The Historical Authenticity Of The Adam Character In The Genesis Creation Narratives

Daniel T. Lioy1

Collins CJ 2011. Did Adam and Eve really exist? Who they were and why you should care. Wheaton: Crossway.

Enns P 2012. The evolution of Adam: what the Bible does and doesn’t say about human origins. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press.

Abstract

In this review article, a comparison is made between the recent publications authored by C. J. Collins and P. Enns concerning the historical authenticity of the Adam character (and to a lesser extent Eve) in the Genesis creation narratives. The first section introduces and provides the rationale for the essay. Next, in the second and third sections, an overview of each author’s respective books is undertaken. Then, the final section concludes by comparing the presuppositions made and deductions put forward by each author. The intent is not to adjudicate whether the exegetical choices and theological positions advocated by either writer have greater or lesser value. Instead, it is to provide concerned readers with a fresh perspective of how two representative biblical scholars

address a topic that is pertinent to the wider discussion on science and religion.

1. Introduction: The Rationale For This Essay

Within the religious and secular media, there is renewed interest in the academic question of whether the Adam of Genesis 1-3 was a historically authentic character. For example, the June 2011 issue of Christianity Today (a widely-read evangelical periodical) contains an article titled ‘The search for the historical Adam’. The lead-in states that the ‘center of the evolution debate has shifted from asking whether we came from earlier animals, to whether we could have come from one man and one woman’ (Ostling 2011). Later, in August 2011, NPR (a news and cultural programming media organization) aired a story titled ‘Evangelicals question the existence of Adam and Eve’. The lead-in asks, ‘Did they exist, and did all humanity descend from that single pair?’ (Hagerty 2011).

It goes without saying that the debate over whether there ever was a literal Adam (and Eve) is longstanding within religious academic circles (cf. the extensive, representative bibliography in Lioy 2011). Still, the recent media attention devoted to this issue has helped give rise to two recent scholarly publications, one by C. J. Collins, and the other by P. Enns. On the one hand, Collins (2011) advocat...

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()